The Sensex opened with a huge negative gap of 304 points at 8,536 following negative cues from the global markets. Nervousness in morning trades saw the index extend losses and slip to a low of 8,467 - down 373 points from the previous close.
The index, thereafter, displayed lacklustre movement for most part of the trading day. Renewed buying in the last two hours of trades helped the index recover smartly and touch a high of 8,785 - still down 55 points from the previous close. Realty and FMCG stocks led the recovery, while auto, energy and technology stocks continued to reel under selling pressure.
The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 101 points at 8,739.
The BSE Realty index surged over 2% to Rs 1,509, and the FMCG index was up 1% at 1,904. On the other hand, the Auto index plunged 3% to 2,155, and theOil & Gas index shed 2.5% at 5,398.
The market breadth was negative - out of 2,154 stocks traded, 1,293 declined, 803 advanced and the rest were unchanged today.
INDEX MOVERS...
Reliance Infrastructure soared nearly 5.5% to Rs 493.
Bharti Airtel surged 3% to Rs 671, and Jaiprakash Associates rallied 2.8% to Rs 58.
NTPC and ITC moved up 2.5% each to Rs 160 and Rs 170, respectively.
DLF gained 2% at Rs 182, and Ranbaxy added 1.8% to Rs 202.
Hindalco and ACC were up 1% each at Rs 52 and Rs 405, respectively.
...AND THE SHAKERS
Mahindra & Mahindra slumped over 8% to Rs 250. Maruti and TCS plunged over 5% each to Rs 460 and Rs 535, respectively.
Larsen & Toubro shed 3.5% at Rs 679. Sterlite, Tata Motors and HDFC dropped 3.3% each to Rs 231, Rs 128 and Rs 1,391, respectively.
Tata Steel and Reliance slipped over 3% each to Rs 149 and Rs 1,075, respectively. ONGC shed 2.6% at Rs 664.
Reliance Communications declined over 2% to Rs 192. HDFC Bank and SBI were down 1.5% each at Rs 885 and Rs 1,040, respectively.
VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS
Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 256 crore followed by SBI (Rs 171 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 159 crore), Educomp Solutions (Rs 123 crore) and Larsen & Toubro (Rs 114 crore).
Unitech led the volume chart with trades of around 2.55 crore shares followed by GVK Power (1.10 crore), Suzlon (1.10 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (52 lakh) and DLF (50 lakh).
